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U.S. beef prices reach record highs as cattle industry struggles to keep costs down
(www.cbsnews.com)
this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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United States | News & Politics
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Seems like this is one industry that's entirely inside the United States, what the hell are they struggling to keep the price down on? Does the grass not grow under the sun any more?
The vast majority of calories cattle consume in the USA are from agriculture.
Didn't you hear? Drump slapped a 1,190% tariff on sunlight
Fucking outer space terrorists and their monopoly on light! Make America Bright Again!!!
I Call This Enemy: The Sun (The Simpsons)
Beef prices are bought and sold on the commodities markets. Prices are directly related to investors speculation and historically have been very loosely related to supply and demand.
Prices go up, so the herd size increases until it reaches market saturation point. Then the prices crash hard and herd sizes decrease. Generally this is a pretty quick up and down. Less than 3 years.
So what's different this time.
Prices went up, herd sized increased. Then prices started to fall so people started to sell down their herds.
Then enter the orange moron with his trade wars. Massive speculation of the value of U.S. beef hit at the same time herd size was decreasing. So people started selling off deeper into their herd because booming money with no guarantees on tomorrow.
So we're are we now, herds are small, prices are high. Availability of animals are low so it pushes prices higher. People have a choice of increasing their herd size and hoping prices hold for 2 years, or selling off deeper into their herd.
With climate change, hay and such can be scarce.
But, factory farms mostly use corn and grain. I'm not sure where that's sourced, but I'm sure prices are going up since our slave labor workforce is being deported.
Even for cutting and baling hay, a lot of people are having a hard time finding someone who wants to do the work. My mom leases her fields to her neighbors for cattle grazing and hay harvesting, and it took them months to find someone to cut and bale.
Used to be there'd be some high school kid who wanted to earn some extra cash, but apparently this new generation doesn't want to do hard work (and they pay well)
The irony of calling out kids for not wanting to do the work you don't want to do either is pretty amusing.
Some people just aren't cut out for back breaking work (myself included). I did construction for a few summers in high school, and that was enough to tell me how important studying is, because I didn't want to wreck my body for someone else's dime.
I've done the work before. I can't do it now due to injuries.
But go ahead and keep making wild assumptions.
That sounds like incredibly shitty work, which means they're not paying well (compared to easier options).
A quick search showed it paid relatively in line with other retail and waiting jobs. Which are far less strenuous. Work shortages are a myth. It's always a payment deficit
"They pay well" .... Bullshit.
Pay $100/hour and you'll have a line out the door of applicants to work hard.
Play $15/hr and "Nobody wants to work anymore."